Systems and methods for a wearable touch-sensitive device

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for controlling functions associated with a touch-sensitive device ( 100 ) capable of being worn by a user. The touch-sensitive device ( 100 ) includes a substrate ( 110 ) with an outside surface ( 112 ) and an inside surface ( 114 ) opposite from the outside surface ( 112 ). A first contact sensing component ( 120 ) generates a first signal upon detection of a first contact with the outside surface ( 112 ), and a second contact sensing component ( 130 ) generates a second signal upon detection of a second contact with the inside surface ( 114 ). A processor ( 140 ) may be configured to interface with the first contact sensing component ( 120 ) and the second contact sensing component ( 130 ) and perform operations including: analyzing the first signal and the second signal to determine that a predetermined condition is satisfied, and in response to the analyzing, initiating a function associated with the predetermined condition.

This application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 13/596,450,filed on Aug. 28, 2012, the entire content of which is herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD

This application generally relates to touch-sensitive components ofelectronic devices. In particular, the application relates to platformsand techniques for controlling functions associated with a wearable,touch-sensitive device based on tactile interactions with the wearabledevice.

BACKGROUND

Current electronic devices can include touch-sensitive componentsconfigured to detect touch contact associated with user inputfunctionality. For example, functionality associated with a touch screendevice configured to detect contact in the form of a finger touch can becontrolled based on a type of contact made (e.g., moving or stationarycontact, single or multi-touch contact, etc.), a contact location,and/or a time duration of the contact. A “wearable” touch-sensitivedevice can provide several added benefits, including, for example,allowing the wearer to have one hand free while operating the device andkeeping the device “at hand” between uses. These features may beespecially convenient when the user is engaged in physical activity,such as exercise. As another example, the wearable device can be used toenhance the user's exercising experience by, for example, monitoringvital signs (e.g., when worn around the user's wrist), trackingprogress, providing encouragement, and/or facilitating other functions.

To prevent misinterpretation of inadvertent contact, currenttouch-sensitive devices can include a feature for temporarily disablingthe touch-sensitive components (e.g., locking a touch screen). However,at times, the process of re-enabling the touch-sensitive components(e.g., unlocking a locked device) can be taxing and/or inconvenient,especially, for example, when an emergency call must be made or when theuser's attention is engaged otherwise (e.g., while exercising, whiletalking to others in the immediate vicinity). Accordingly, there is anopportunity to develop a touch-sensitive device that can remainactivated while also limiting misinterpretation of inadvertent contact.Further, there is an opportunity to develop a touch-sensitive devicethat can initiate functionalities in response to detecting variousinteractions by the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer toidentical or functionally similar elements throughout the separateviews, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated inand form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrateembodiments of concepts that include the claimed embodiments, andexplain various principles and advantages of those embodiments.

FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C illustrate example electronic devices in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate example cross-section views of anelectronic device in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an interaction with an electronic device inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an interaction with an electronic device inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate an interaction with an electronic device inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C illustrate an interaction with an electronic devicein accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an electronic device in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B (collectively referred to herein as “FIG. 8”)illustrate a flow diagram depicting contact-based control of functionsassociated with an electronic device in accordance with someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

System and methods are disclosed for controlling a touch-sensitivedevice capable of being worn by a user and detecting user input. Moreparticularly, the systems and methods disclosed herein providetechniques for detecting user input based on tactile interactions with awearable touch-sensitive device, such as, e.g., a touch-sensitive bandcapable of being worn around the user's wrist. Further, thetouch-sensitive device may be capable of detecting touch contact on bothan outside surface and an opposing inside surface of the device. Forexample, the touch-sensitive device may include one or more contactsensing components on each of the outside surface and the insidesurface. Upon detecting a user contact, the contact sensing componentsmay generate one or more contact detection signals and send the signalsto a processor. The processor may analyze the received signals todetermine whether a predetermined condition is satisfied. In response tothis analyzing, the processor may initiate a function associated withthe predetermined condition

The touch-sensitive device may be capable of detecting tactile userinteractions that include gestures, movements, touches, and/or any otherform of contact made with the wearable touch-sensitive device using anyportion of a hand, including one or more finger(s) and/or a thumb, awrist, an arm, an ankle, and/or any other body part(s). In someembodiments, the tactile interactions may include natural or intuitivemotions that can be performed by the user without looking at thewearable device. Further, the tactile interactions may includestationary and/or moving contact relative to the outside and/or insidesurface of the device. In order to be recognized as a valid user input,each tactile interaction may need to be maintained for a predeterminedtime interval. In some instances, a first touch contact on the outsidesurface may be detected contemporaneously with a second touch contact onthe inside surface. And in some instances, the first touch contact onthe outside surface may be parasitically or indirectly detected by asensor on the inside surface due to, for example, certain mechanicalcharacteristics of the first touch contact.

To give an example of a tactile user input, in some embodiments, apredetermined condition may be satisfied (and an associated function maybe initiated) upon determining that a first touch contact corresponds tothe user fully gripping and curving fingers around the outside surfaceof the touch-sensitive band and a second touch contact corresponds tothe user's wrist contacting the inside surface of the band, for example,due to the pressure placed by the first contact on the band. As anotherexample, a predetermined condition may be satisfied upon determiningthat the first contact corresponds to the user placing two or morecomponents of the user's hand (e.g., an index finger and a thumb) on theoutside surface of the band and the second contact corresponds to theuser sliding the inside surface of the band around the wrist. In yetanother example, a predetermined condition may be satisfied upondetermining that the first touch contact corresponds to a portion of theuser's hand (e.g., one or more fingers) sliding around the outsidesurface of the touch-sensitive band and the second contact correspondsto the user's wrist contacting the inside surface of the band, forexample, due to the pressure placed by the first contact on the band.According to still another example, a predetermined condition may besatisfied upon determining that the first contact corresponds toplacement of two or more fingers of the user's hand on a portion of thetouch-sensitive band that is adjacent to the underside of the user'swrist and the second touch contact corresponds to the user's wristcontacting the inside surface of the band, for example, due to thepressure placed by the first contact on the band (e.g., like the gesturecommonly associated with measuring a radial pulse in a wrist).

FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C depict example wearable devices 100 consistent withsome embodiments. It should be appreciated that the wearable device 100,as depicted, is merely an example and can include various combinationsof hardware and/or software components. According to some embodiments,the wearable device 100 may be a watchphone, a health monitor, asportphone, or any other touch-sensitive electronic device that isconfigured to be worn on a body part of the user.

As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C, the wearable device 100 may include asubstrate 110 that has an outside surface 112 and an inside surface 114that is opposite from the outside surface 112. The substrate 110 may bea flexible layer made with metal, plastic, silicone, rubber, elastic,cloth, leather, or other materials or combinations of materials. In someembodiments, the substrate 110 may be configured as a wristband, abracelet, a watchband, an armband, an anklet, a belt, or any other formof band or strap that is configured to be worn on or around a body part.In some embodiments, e.g., as shown in FIG. 6C, the substrate 110 mayinclude two end portions that are configured to be fastened together(e.g., around the user's wrist) using any of a number of fasteners suchas a clasp, clamp, buckle, button, hook-and-loop fastener, and/or thelike. In other embodiments, the substrate 110 may be configured as asingle, flexible piece that can stretch or expand at least enough toallow a user to slide the substrate 110 over a body part, such as a handor foot. In one embodiment, the substrate 110 may be configured asmultiple links or pieces that are flexibly coupled together by, forexample, a string, elastic, a wire, a cord, or any other flexiblematerial.

As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the substrate 110 may be configured tosupport one or more contact sensing components 120 disposed in closeproximity to the outside surface 112 and one or more contact sensingcomponents 130 disposed in close proximity to the inside surface 114.The contact sensing component(s) 120 (hereinafter referred to as outersensor 120) and the contact sensing component(s) 130 (hereinafterreferred to as inner sensors 130) may each be capable of receiving(e.g., determining, sensing, or detecting) contact-based inputs from auser of the electronic device 100. A contact-based input may betriggered by a contact or touch by any finger or thumb of either a leftor a right hand of a user. In addition, or in the alternative, acontact-based input may also be triggered by a contact or touch from anyportion of a user's hand (including a palm, back of hand, side of hand,knuckle(s), etc.), a wrist, an arm, an ankle, a leg, or any other bodypart of the user.

The sensors 120, 130 may include any type of contact sensing technology,such as resistive panels, surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology,capacitive sensing (including surface capacitance, projectedcapacitance, mutual capacitance, and self-capacitance), infrared,optical imaging, dispersive signal technology, acoustic pulserecognition, and/or others. Each sensor 120, 130 may be physicallyand/or operationally independent of the other sensors. Further, in someembodiments, the outer sensor(s) 120 and/or the inner sensor(s) 130 mayinclude dynamically-determined contact sensing areas. In otherembodiments, the outer sensor(s) 120 and/or the inner sensor(s) 130 maybe implemented as separate physical buttons or keys. In still otherembodiments, an outer sensor 120 (and possibly an inner sensor 130) maybe implemented as a touch screen.

In an exemplary operation, a sensor 120, 130 that is implemented as, forexample, a capacitive sensing layer may include a series of nodescapable of sensing a surface contact from, for example, a user's hand orother body part. In response to detecting touch contact at one or moreof these nodes, the sensor 120, 130 may generate a contact detectionsignal(s) and transmit the contact detection signal(s) to a processingmodule 140 included in the wearable device 100, as shown in FIGS. 1A,1B, and 1C. According to some aspects, the signals can indicate high orlow points based on changes in capacitance due to the surface contact ateach of the contacted nodes. The processing module 140 may analyze thehigh or low points to identify a placement of the user's hand (or otherbody part) on the sensor 120, 130 and/or any changes in surface contactrelative to a previous signal(s). For example, the processing module 140may detect that a user's hand is gripping the outside surface 112 of thesubstrate 110 (e.g., as shown in FIG. 3A) based on the nodes of theouter sensor 120 that sense contact.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1A, the outer sensor 120 is disposedsubstantially across a length and a width of the outside surface 112,for example, as a single, continuous touch-sensitive component (e.g.,including a contact sensing layer), and the inner sensors 130 areindividually disposed across the inside surface 114, for example, as anarray of discrete touch sensors. It should be appreciated that thesensors 120, 130 may be disposed, distributed, and/or arranged on thesubstrate 110 in any manner suitable for any of a wide variety ofapplications. For example, as discussed in more detail herein, FIGS. 3-6show four different configurations for arranging the sensors 120, 130 ofthe wearable device 100. Further, according to certain aspects, thesensors 120, 130 may be arranged or distributed across the substrate 110to cover at least half of, a majority of, an entirety of, or any otherportion of the surfaces 112, 114, respectively. Moreover, the sensors120, 130 may have any shape, size, quantity, placement, and/orconfiguration and are not limited to those shown in the figures.

In some embodiments, e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 1B, the outer sensor120 may form part of a touch screen 120 that is configured to displaygraphical information and to sense or detect user contact on the touchscreen 120. In some embodiments, the touch screen 120 may be flexible,or at least partially flexible, for example, like the substrate 110.Alternatively, the touch screen 120 may have a curvilinear orrectilinear shape that is substantially rigid. In either case, the touchscreen 120 may form at least a portion of the outside surface 112. Forexample, in one embodiment, the touch screen 120 may form at least amajority of the outside surface 112. In some embodiments, the touchscreen 120 may be integrated into the substrate 110. In otherembodiments, the touch sensor 120 may be disposed over a portion of theoutside surface 112.

In still other embodiments, e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 1C, thewearable device 100 may include a display screen 150 configured todisplay graphical information, and multiple outer sensors 120 may bearranged around the display screen 150 on the outside surface 112 of thesubstrate 110. In other embodiments, the outer sensors 120 may bedisposed underneath and/or over the display screen 150. The substrate110 may be configured to support the display screen 150, as well as theouter sensors 120. In some embodiments, the outer sensors 120 and/or thedisplay screen 150, and any parts or components associated therewith,may be integrated into the substrate 110. For example, in someembodiments, the display screen 150 may form at least a portion of theoutside surface 112 and/or may be flexible, or partially flexible,similar to the substrate 110. Further, in some embodiments, the displayscreen 150 and/or the substrate 110 may individually include one or moreparts or components for supporting various functionalities of thewearable device 100, including contact sensing functions, displayfunctions, and/or wireless communication functions.

A size of the display screen 150 may be selected based on severalfactors, such as desired screen resolution, power management capacity,and/or included display screen technology. The display screen 150 mayuse display technology such as electrophoretic displays, electronicpaper, polyLED displays, AMOLED displays, OLED displays, liquid crystaldisplays, electrowetting displays, rotating ball displays, segmenteddisplays, direct drive displays, passive-matrix displays, active-matrixdisplays, and/or others.

Referring now to the sensors 120, 130 and the processing module 140, theprocessing module 140 may be an integrated circuit containing aprocessor and other components configured to process user input andsensor data. The processing module 140 may be configured to interfacewith the outer sensors 120, the inner sensors 130, and/or othercomponents of the wearable device 100 to receive one or more signalsindicating detection of a contact-based input. For example, the sensors120, 130 may be configured to generate contact detection signals uponsensing any type of touch contact (above a functional or mechanicalthreshold), and send the contact detection signals to the processingmodule 140. As an example, upon detection of a first touch contact onthe outside surface 112, the outer sensor 120 may generate and send afirst signal to the processing module 140. Similarly, upon detection ofa second touch contact on the inside surface 114, the inner sensor 130may generate and send a second signal to the processing module 140.Where the first contact and the second contact occur substantiallycontemporaneously, the first signal and the second signal may begenerated and sent substantially contemporaneously as well.

Upon receiving the touch contact detection signals, the processingmodule 140 may analyze the contact detection signals to determinewhether the detected contact is valid (e.g., an intended user input). Inone embodiment, the validity of a detected touch contact may bedetermined by comparing information retrieved from the contact detectionsignals with a contact validation threshold. The contact validationthreshold may include threshold values for several measurable parametersthat relate to a detected contact, such as, e.g., an amount of time thatthe detected contact is maintained, a magnitude of contact forceapplied, a change in capacitance caused by the contact, a surface areaof the contact's touch point, an amount of resistive force or pressureprovided by the contact, a voltage or current level detected in responseto the contact, a number of clock cycles associated with the contact, anoscillator frequency associated with the contact, and/or any othermeasurement information that may be retrieved from the contact detectionsignals to determine whether the detected touch contact was madeinadvertently or deliberately. As will be appreciated, the processingmodule 140 may consider a detected touch contact to be an invalidcontact if it does not overcome the contact validation threshold.

As an example, the processing module 140 may be configured to determinethat a detected touch contact is valid if the contact is maintained forat least a predetermined time interval. The wearable device 100 mayinclude one or more timing elements (not shown) that are configured torecord timing information, including how long each detected contact ismaintained at the detecting sensor 120, 130. In one embodiment, thetiming element(s) may be incorporated into the processing module 140(e.g., timer 742 in FIG. 7). The processing module 140 may analyze thetiming information to determine whether the detected contact ismaintained for the predetermined time interval. If a detected contact isnot maintained for at least the predetermined time interval, theprocessing module 140 may determine that the touch contact has notovercome the contact validation threshold and, therefore, is not a validcontact.

The predetermined time interval and other threshold values of thecontact validation threshold may vary depending on the type oftouch-sensitive technology included in the sensors 120, 130 and/or othercomponents included in the wearable device 100. Alternatively, oradditionally, the threshold values may vary depending on the type ofcontact being made (e.g., stationary or moving, single-touch ormulti-touch, clockwise or counterclockwise, proximate or distant,contemporaneous or sequential, opposing or displaced, etc.), an aspectof a predetermined condition (e.g., whether parasitic contact detectionis desirable), or any other related factor. Thus, in some embodiments,there may be more than one threshold value for each parameter associatedwith the contact validation threshold, and the various threshold valuesmay be stored in a database and may be accessible by the processingmodule 140 as needed.

In addition to determining validity of a detected touch contact, theprocessing module 140 may be configured to analyze the received contactdetection signals (e.g., a first signal from an outer sensor 120 and asecond signal from an inner sensor 130) to determine whether apredetermined condition is satisfied, and if so, to initiate a functionof the wearable device 100 that is associated with the satisfiedpredetermined condition. According to some embodiments, the wearabledevice 100 may be associated with several predetermined conditions, andeach predetermined condition may include a composite of variables orsub-conditions that must be individually satisfied in order to fulfillthe overall predetermined condition. As an example, a database maycontain information related to each of the predetermined conditions,including the variables associated with each predetermined condition andthe function(s) to be initiated upon satisfaction of a givenpredetermined condition. The processing module 140 may access thisdatabase when determining whether a predetermined condition is satisfiedby a detected touch contact. For example, upon receiving contactdetection signals, the processing module 140 may be configured toextract information from the signals that is related to one or more ofthe variables stored in the database. Further, the processing module 140may be configured to compare the extracted information with the databaseinformation to determine whether a predetermined condition is satisfied.

Table 1 provides an exemplary set of predetermined conditions that maybe stored in a database and retrieved to analyze received contactdetection signals. As seen in Table 1, each predetermined condition hasmultiple individual variables that must be individually satisfied inorder for the predetermined condition to be satisfied as a whole.According to Table 1, these variables may include the location of atouch contact (e.g., is the contact detected by the outer sensor, theinner sensor, or any other component of the device 100), the movement ofthe contact (e.g., is the contact stationary or moving), the directionof a moving contact (e.g., is the contact moving clockwise orcounterclockwise), the number of touch points (e.g., is the contactsingle-touch or multi-touch), the arrangement of multi-touch contacts,(e.g., are the touch points proximately arranged, distantly arranged, orarranged in a grip hold), the order in which inner and outer contactsare made (e.g., are the contacts made contemporaneously orsequentially), the relative location of stationary inner and outercontacts (e.g., are the contacts directly opposite from each other ordisplaced from each other), and parasitic contact detection (e.g.,whether the inner sensor detects an indirect outer contact).

Table 1 also lists exemplary functions that may be initiated uponsatisfaction of each predetermined condition, such as emergency dialing(e.g., making an emergency call using the device 100), volume control(e.g., controlling a volume of audio being played by the device 100,including increasing and/or decreasing the volume), display control(e.g., locking or unlocking the display screen 150), and heart-ratemonitor control (e.g., starting or stopping a heart-rate monitorincluded in the wearable device 100). As will be appreciated, thepresent disclosure is not limited to the specific examples provided inTable 1.

TABLE 1 Predetermined Condition Variables Condition 1 Condition 2Condition 3 Condition 4 Condition 5 Condition 6 Outer Movement ofContact Stationary Stationary Stationary Moving Moving Stationary Touch(Stationary/Moving) Contact If Moving, Direction — — — ClockwiseCounter- — (Clockwise/Counterclockwise) clockwise Number of TouchPoint(s) Multi-touch Multi-touch Multi-touch Single-touch Single-touchMulti-touch (Single-touch/Multi-touch) If Multi-touch, Arrangement GripDistant Distant — — Proximate (Proximate/Distant/Grip) Inner Movement ofContact Stationary Moving Moving Stationary Stationary Stationary Touch(Stationary/Moving) Contact If Moving, Direction — Clockwise Counter- —— — (Clockwise/Counter-clockwise) clockwise Number of Touch Point(s)Multi-touch Single-touch Single-touch Single-touch Single-touchMulti-touch (Single-touch/Multi-touch) If Multi-touch, Arrangement Grip— — — — Proximate (Proximate/Distant/Grip) Contact Validation ThresholdYes N/A N/A N/A N/A Yes Overcome by Parasitic Contact? Order of Inner &Outer Contacts Contempo- Contempo- Contempo- Contempo- Contempo-Contempo- (Contemporaneous/Sequential) raneous raneous raneous raneousraneous raneous. If Stationary Inner and Outer Contacts, Opposing — — —— Opposing Relative Location? (Opposing/Displaced) Function InitiatedDial Increase Decrease Lock Unlock Launch Emergency Volume VolumeDisplay Display Heart-rate Number Monitor

As listed in Table 1, the processing module 140 may analyze informationrelating the movement of a contact relative to a surface of the wearabledevice 100 when determining satisfaction of a predetermined condition.As an example, information retrieved from the first signal generated bythe outer sensor 120 may indicate whether the first contact is moving orstationary, and information retrieved from the second signal generatedby the inner sensor 130 may indicate whether the second contact ismoving or stationary. A stationary contact may be any contact that isapplied to and remains at one location on a surface of the substrate 110for a predefined amount of time. An example of stationary contact may bea finger tap on a surface 112. A moving contact may be any contact thatis applied to a beginning location on a surface of the substrate 110 andmoves (e.g., slides, glides, rubs, travels, etc.) along the surface toan ending location on the surface within a predefined amount of time. Anexample of moving contact may be swiping a finger along the length ofthe surface 112.

Also as listed in Table 1, the processing module 140 may analyzeinformation relating to a direction of movement of a touch contactrelative to a surface of the wearable device 100 when determiningsatisfaction of a predetermined condition. For example, a moving contactmay move in any direction relative to a surface of the substrate 110,such as clockwise, counter-clockwise, laterally, longitudinally, backand forth (e.g., rubbing), and/or in any type of pattern (e.g.,circular, swirling, zig-zag, etc.). In some instances, the endinglocation may be the same as the beginning location, if, for example, themoving contact travels around an entire exterior or interior surface ofthe substrate 110, so as to circle back to the beginning location.

Further, as listed in Table 1, the processing module 140 may analyzeinformation relating to an arrangement of the touch points associatedwith multi-touch contacts when determining satisfaction of apredetermined condition. For example, a multi-touch contact may relateto contact at two or more touch points on a surface of the wearabledevice 100. The touch points may be arranged or placed in any manner orpattern, including, for example, a grip hold arrangement, where thetouch points substantially follow the curvature of a curved surface ofthe wearable device 100 and/or cover a majority portion of the surface.Other touch point arrangements may include a proximate arrangement,where the touch points are in very close proximity to each other, or adistant arrangement, where the touch points are at least a predetermineddistance apart from each other (e.g., distance D in FIG. 4). As shouldbe appreciated, any detectable arrangement of the touch points may beused in the predetermined condition analysis.

In addition to, or instead of, the variables listed in Table 1, thepredetermined condition may relate to other variables, such as anidentity of the sensor(s) being activated by the contact (e.g., which ofseveral outer sensors 120 and/or several inner sensors 130 are beingcontacted), and/or a velocity of the contact (e.g., in the case of amoving contact). According to some embodiments, instead of including thepredetermined time interval in the contact validation analysis describedabove, this time value may be analyzed as a variable of a predeterminedcondition.

Similarly, upon determining that a predetermined condition is satisfied,the processing module 140 may initiate other functions of the wearabledevice 100, in addition to, or instead of, the functions listed inTable 1. Exemplary functions may include powering the device 100 on oroff, launching a dialer function of the device 100, silencing a phoneringing function of the device 100, answering an incoming call inloudspeaker mode or private speaker mode, transferring an ongoing callto private speaker mode or loudspeaker mode, muting or un-muting anexisting call, playing or pausing a digital media player, invoking afast-forward or rewind function of a digital media player, or any otherfunction associated with the wearable device 100.

In some embodiments, the processing module 140 may be implemented as amain processor and a contact sensor processor (not shown). The contactsensor processor may be configured to process and analyze at least aportion of the contact detection signals received from each sensor 120,130, and an output of the contact sensor processor may be sent to themain processor. According to some embodiments, the contact sensorprocessor may analyze the contact detection signals to determine thecontact timing information, contact validation information, informationrelated to the one or more predetermined conditions, or any otherinformation related to the detected touch contact. In one embodiment,the contact sensor processor performs at least a portion of the analysisfor determining whether the contact validation threshold is overcome bythe detected contact. In one embodiment, the contact sensor processorperforms at least a portion of the analysis for determining whether eachvariable of a predetermined condition is satisfied. In some embodiments,the main processor executes a function in response to receiving anoutput signal from the contact sensor processor that indicatessatisfaction of an associated predetermined condition.

In some embodiments, the display screen 150, the processing module 140,and/or other components for supporting the functionalities of thewearable device 100 may be included in a standalone device that ismechanically coupled to the substrate 110. For example, in oneembodiment, the standalone device may be similar in shape and/or designto an electronic wristwatch, a heart-rate monitor, a personal mediaplayer, a pedometer, or other personal, portable electronic device.Further, according to such embodiments, the substrate 110 may beconfigured as a band having one or more portions that are attachable tothe standalone device (e.g., similar to a single-piece or a two-piecewatchband). Also according to such embodiments, the outer sensor 120 maybe disposed on or in close proximity to the substrate 110 and around thestand-alone device, for example, similar to the configuration shown inFIG. 1C with the display 150 implemented as part of a personal mediaplayer that can be detached from the substrate 110.

As described herein, the wearable device 100 may support a variety offunctionalities and applications. For example, the wearable device 100may support wireless communication functionalities such as telephonecalls, text messaging, video calls, Internet browsing, emailing, and/orthe like, using piezo elements positioned and configured to act asmicrophones and speakers for supporting telephony and other voicefunctions. Further, for example, the wearable device 100 may supportapplications such as games, utilities (e.g., calculators, cameraapplications, etc.), configuration applications, and/or the like. Thewearable device 100 may also support voice-activation technology thatallows users to initiate and operate functions and applications of thewearable device 100. In some embodiments, the wearable device 100 may beconfigured to connect to various wired or wireless personal, local, orwide area networks to facilitate communication with network componentsand/or other devices.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate cross-section views of an examplewearable device 200. It should be appreciated that the cross-sectionviews are merely examples and the wearable device 200 may includevarious combinations of components and placements thereof.

As shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C, the wearable device 200 may include asubstrate 210, one or more outer sensors 220, and one or more innersensors 230. Each outer sensor 220 and each inner sensor 230 may sensecontact made by, for example, a portion of the user's hand or any otherbody part, and may each include an array of discrete contact sensingcomponents or a single continuous touch sensor. A user of the wearabledevice 200 may control various functionalities of the wearable device200 by contacting or touching an outer sensor 220 and/or an inner sensor230. According to some embodiments, an outer sensor 220 may form part ofa touchscreen 220. In other embodiments, the wearable device 200includes a display screen 250. The substrate 210 may be configured tosupport the outer sensor 220, the inner sensor 230, and/or the displayscreen 250. In some embodiments, the outer sensor 220, the inner sensor230, and/or the display screen 250 may be partially or entirelyintegrated into the substrate 210, as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C.

In FIG. 2A, an example of undesirable parasitic contact detection isshown, wherein a touch contact 270 applied to the outer sensor 220 on anoutside surface 212 is detected not only by the outer sensor 220 butalso by the inner sensor 230 on the inside surface 214 as an indirectcontact 270′. This may occur, for example, if the inner sensor 230 andthe outer sensor 220 are not sufficiently isolated or insulated fromeach other. Though the indirect contact 270′ may be detected to a lesserextent than the direct contact 270, the indirect contact 270′ may stillbe sufficient to overcome a contact validation threshold associated withthe wearable device 200 that determines whether a valid contact has beenmade at a particular sensor.

As discussed above with reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C, the contactvalidation threshold may be related to one or more measurements taken bya sensor 220, 230 in association with a detected touch contact, such as,for example, an amount of time that the contact is maintained, a changein capacitance caused by the contact, a capacitance, voltage, and/orcurrent value detected in response to the contact, a magnitude of thecontact force, an amount of resistive force or pressure applied by thecontact, and/or a surface area of the contact's touch point. As will beappreciated, if the contact is not sufficient to overcome the contactvalidation threshold, the contact will not be parasitically detected bya sensor on the opposite side of the device 200 shown in FIG. 2A. Thewearable device 200 may include processing components (e.g., processingmodule 140) for analyzing signals generated by a sensor 220, 230 inresponse to detecting a touch contact and comparing the signal to thecontact validation threshold to determine whether a valid contact hasbeen made.

In FIG. 2B, the wearable device 200 is shown as including a contactshield 260 disposed between the outer sensor 220 and the inner sensor230. The contact shield 260 may be configured to reduce or preventparasitic contact detection by a sensor with which the contact was notdirectly made (e.g., a sensor located on an opposite surface of thedevice 200). In some embodiments, the contact shield 260 is implementedas an insulating barrier that is disposed between the inner sensor 230and the outer sensor 220 and is made of rubber, silicone, elastic,plastic, or any other material capable of functioning as a groundelement. In one embodiment, a portion of the substrate 210 forms thecontact shield 260. In effect, the contact shield 260 may shield thesensors 220, 230 from parasitic contact detection by absorbing theresidual effect of the contact (e.g., beyond the sensor at which thecontact was directly made). To illustrate, FIG. 2B shows a touch contact280 that is applied to the inside surface 214 and is detected by theinner sensor 230. The contact shield 260 prevents the touch contact 280from being parasitically detected by the outer sensor 220 (e.g., asindirect contact 280′) by, for example, providing sufficient electricaland/or mechanical insulation between the sensors 220, 230. Thus, in FIG.2B, the touch contact 280 is detected only by the inner sensor 230,where it is originally applied.

In other embodiments, like that shown in FIG. 2C, the placement of theouter sensors 220 relative to the inner sensors 230 (e.g., where thesensors 220, 230 include discrete touch sensors) may create, orcontribute to, a shielding effect for reducing or preventing parasiticcontact detection. For example, the outer sensors 220 and the innersensors 230 may be arranged to avoid, or minimize, vertical overlapbetween the sensors. Such an arrangement may prevent a sensor fromdetecting a parasitic contact at least because a sensor is not locateddirectly opposite from the contacted sensor (e.g., on an oppositesurface of the substrate 210). In FIG. 2C, for example, the sensors 220,230 are placed in a staggered or offset arrangement, so that the outersensors 220 do not directly line up with the inner sensors 230. Asshown, a touch contact 285 on the outside surface 212 is detected by theouter sensor 220, but the corresponding indirect contact 285′ becomes“absorbed” by the substrate 210. Thus, in some embodiments, thesubstrate 210, itself, may contribute to electrically and/ormechanically isolating the sensors 220, 230 from each other to preventparasitic contact detection.

In some embodiments, in addition to, or instead of, the contact shield260 shown in FIG. 2B and/or placement of sensors 220, 230 shown in FIG.2C, the contact validation threshold may be configured to prevent orreduce parasitic contact detection by adjusting one or more of thethreshold values so that a detected parasitic contact is not determinedto be a valid contact. For example, the magnitude of force for aparasitic contact may be lower than that of a direct contact.Accordingly, the threshold value for the magnitude of detected contactforce may be raised so that parasitic contacts are not labeled as validcontacts. Similarly, other threshold values may be adjusted to “filterout” or invalidate parasitic contacts. The threshold values may bepre-configured based on a set of known or expected values for parasiticcontacts.

Further, the characteristics of the contact shield 260 shown in FIG. 2B,the placement of the sensors 220, 230 shown in FIG. 2C, and/or thecontact validation threshold may be selected based on the specificcomponents included in the wearable device 200, the type and/orsensitivity of each sensor 220, 230, the composition of the outer sensor220, the inner sensor 230, and/or each component there between (e.g.,the display screen 250, the contact shield 260, and/or the substrate210), and/or any other factor. In some embodiments, a combination of acontact shield 260, a placement of the sensors 220, 230, and/or acontact validation threshold may be utilized to prevent or reduceparasitic contact detection.

FIGS. 3-6 depict specific examples of detectable tactile interactionswith a wearable touch-sensitive device that may initiate one or morepredefined functions associated with the wearable device. It should beappreciated that the following are merely examples and that any of anumber of tactile interactions, gestures, movements, contacts, or othertypes of user inputs may be utilized to initiate the predefinedfunctions.

Referring to FIG. 3A, depicted is an example wearable device 300 inaccordance with certain embodiments. Also, FIG. 3B depicts across-section view of the wearable device 300. It should be appreciatedthat the wearable device 300 is merely an example and other components,sizes of components, and scales of components are envisioned.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the wearable device 300 includes a substrate (andarm/wrist, which includes an outside surface 312 and an inside surface314. The substrate 310 may be configured to support an outer sensor 320disposed in close proximity to the outside surface 312 and an innersensor 330 disposed in close proximity to the inside surface 314. In theembodiment of FIG. 3A, the outer sensor 320 and the inner sensor 330 areshown as being continuous touch sensors (e.g., including a contactsensing layer). As will be appreciated, in other embodiments, thesensors 320, 330 may include any type of, or combination of,touch-sensitive components, such as, e.g., discrete touch sensors, atouch pad, and/or a touch screen. In some embodiments, the wearabledevice 300 may include a display screen (not shown).

In some embodiment, the wearable device 300 may include a contact shield(not shown) configured to reduce parasitic contact detection by a sensoron an opposite side of the substrate 310 than the surface on which acontact is made directly. In other embodiments, instead of, or inaddition to, the contact shield, parasitic contact detection may bereduced or prevented by adjusting one or more of the threshold valuesincluded in a contact validation threshold associated with the wearabledevice 300. As discussed above with reference to FIG. 2, by raising athreshold value above a value that is expected for a parasitic contact,the contact validation threshold may operate to prevent a parasiticcontact from being detected as a valid contact.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a user's hand 390 is depicted as grasping,gripping, or otherwise curving around and making several outer touchcontacts 370 with the wearable device 300. According to someembodiments, the wearable device 300 can determine a position of theuser's hand 390 and components thereof (e.g., thumb, index finger, etc.)when the user's hand 390 makes the outer touch contacts 370 with theouter sensor 320. For example, the outer sensor 320 can recognizecontact made at one or more of a series of nodes of sensor 320, generatesignals corresponding to the contact, and send the signals to aprocessor of the wearable device 300. The processor can analyze thesignals to determine a mapping of the contact and the correspondingpoints of contact by the user's hand 390. For example, the processor maybe able to determine that an arrangement of touch points distributedalong a substantially curved portion of the outside surface 312, asshown in FIG. 3B, corresponds to a grip-hold or full-grasp of thewearable device 300, as shown in FIG. 3A. In other embodiments, theprocessor may be able to determine that an arrangement of the touchpoints distributed across a majority portion of the outside surface 312corresponds to the full grasp shown in FIG. 3A. In either case, thisinformation about the arrangement of multi-touch contacts on the outsidesurface 312 may be used to determine whether a predetermined conditionis satisfied.

In the particular example shown in FIG. 3B, the outer touch contacts 370are multi-touch, stationary contacts that are made at multiple locationsalong the outside surface 312 as the user's hand 390 grasps or curvesaround the wearable device 300. In some embodiments, the processor maybe able to determine that the user's hand 390 is touching a majorityportion of the outside surface 312. The pressure applied by the user'shand 390 onto the outside surface 312 may cause at least a portion ofthe wearable device 300 to contact a body part 395 of the user on whichthe wearable device 300 is being worn (e.g., an arm or a wrist). Thistouch contact (e.g., inner touch contacts 380) on the inside surface 314may be detected by the inner sensors 330 as multi-touch, stationarycontacts. The inner touch contacts 380 may be detected by the innersensor 330 at substantially the same time as the outer touch contacts370 are detected by the outer sensor 320. FIG. 3B shows that the touchpoints associated with the inner touch contacts 380 substantially followthe curvature of the inside surface 314. Based on this arrangement oftouch points, the processor may be able to determine that inner touchcontacts 380 correspond to a grip hold, or full grasping, of thewearable device 300, similar to outer touch contacts 370.

Based on the detected contacts, the sensors 320, 330 may generatecontact detection signals that are sent to the processor of the wearabledevice 300. The processor may analyze the received signals to determinewhether a predetermined condition is satisfied by considering severalfactors including, for example, whether a contact is detected by theouter sensor 320, the number of touch points in each contact (e.g.,single-touch or multi-touch), whether each contact is maintained for apredetermined time interval, the movement of each contact (e.g.,stationary or moving), the arrangement of multi-touch contacts (e.g.,whether the touch points match a predefined arrangement, such as a griphold), whether a contact is detected by the inner sensor 330, and/orwhether the inner and outer contacts are overlapping in time.

According to some embodiments, the predetermined condition analysis mayalso include determining whether the outer touch contacts 370 aredetected by the inner sensor 330 as indirect contacts 370′ (not shown)and if so, whether the indirect contacts 370′ overcome the contactvalidation threshold so as to be considered valid contacts. As a result,the inner sensors 330 may detect two sets of valid contacts: theindirect contacts 370′ (not shown) and the inner touch contacts 380,while the outer sensors 320 may detect one set of valid contacts, theouter touch contacts 370. The depicted tactile interaction may occur,for example, if the user grips the wearable device 300 with a force orpressure sufficient to cause the outer touch contacts 370 to beparasitically detected by the inner sensor 330 as valid, indirectcontacts 370′. In some instances, the reverse may occur: inner touchcontacts 380 may be parasitically detected by the outer sensors 320 asindirect contacts 380′ (not shown). This can occur when a user tugs thewearable device 300 down at the inner wrist; then the outer wrist mayprovide pressure that is parasitically detected by the outer sensors320.

Upon analyzing contact detection signals corresponding to the tactileinteraction depicted in FIG. 3A, the processor may, for example,determine that the predetermined condition for making an emergency callis satisfied and may initiate the associated function (e.g., place theemergency call). Other functions associated with the wearable device 300may be initiated by the tactile interaction depicted in FIG. 3A, asshould be appreciated.

Referring to FIG. 4A, depicted is an example wearable device 400 inaccordance with certain embodiments. Also, FIG. 4B depicts across-section view of the wearable device 400. It should be appreciatedthat the wearable device 400 is merely an example and other components,sizes of components, and scales of components are envisioned.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the wearable device 400 includes a substrate 410,which includes an outside surface 412 and an inside surface 414. Thesubstrate 410 may be configured to support an outer sensor 420 disposedin close proximity to the outside surface 412 and an inner sensor 430disposed in close proximity to the inside surface 414. In FIGS. 4A and4B, the outer sensor 420 is shown as being a continuous touch sensor andthe inner sensors 430 are shown as being discrete touch sensors. As willbe appreciated, in other embodiments, the sensors 420, 430 may includeany other types of, or combinations of, touch-sensitive components, suchas a touch screen. In some embodiments, the wearable device 400 mayinclude a display screen (not shown).

In FIGS. 4A and 4B, two components 492 and 493 (e.g., an index fingerand a thumb) of a user's hand 490 are depicted as making two respectivestationary touch contacts 470, 471 at two respective locations 494, 496on the outside surface 412 of the wearable device 400. In response tothe depicted tactile interaction, the outer sensor 420 may generatecontact detection signals indicating detection of the at least twoouter, multi-touch contacts 470, 471. Further, as shown in FIG. 4A, thecontact locations 494, 496 may be positioned a distance D apart. Thedistance D may be larger or smaller depending on which components 492,493 of the user's hand 490 are in contact with the wearable device 400and/or how the user chooses to grasp the device 400.

Also in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the wearable device 400 is depicted as beingworn around a user's wrist 495, and the user's hand 490 is depicted asmoving the wearable device 400 in a direction 498 around the user'swrist 495. As shown in FIG. 4B, the pressure of the stationary touchcontacts 470, 471 on the outside surface 412 of the wearable device 400may be sufficient to cause the inside surface 414 to contact at least aportion of the user's wrist 495 as the wearable device 400 is rotated orslid around the user's wrist 495. This contact (e.g., inner touchcontacts 480) between the inside surface 414 and the user's wrist 495(e.g., wrist bone or ulnar styloid) may be detected by inner sensors 430as a single-touch, moving contact that corresponds to a rotation of thewearable device 400 around the user's wrist 495. In some embodiments,the inner touch contact 480 may be caused by a multi-touch contact.

In response to the tactile interaction depicted in FIGS. 4A and 4B, theouter sensor 420 and the inner sensors 430 may generate and send contactdetection signals for the detected touch contacts 470, 471, and 480 to aprocessor of the wearable device 400. The processor may analyze thereceived signals to determine whether a predetermined condition issatisfied by the detected touch contacts 470, 471,480. The processor mayconsider several factors during its analysis including, for example,whether a stationary contact is detected by the outer sensor 420,whether each contact is maintained for a predetermined time interval,the number of touch points in each contact (e.g., single-touch ormulti-touch), whether a moving contact is detected by the inner sensor,and if so, whether the moving contact is traveling in a pre-specifieddirection, and/or whether the outer and inner contacts are overlappingin time (e.g., contemporaneous).

In some embodiments, the predetermined condition analysis furtherincludes determining an arrangement of the touch points in a multi-touchcontact on the outside surface 412. More specifically, in the case ofFIG. 4A, a determination may be made as to whether the outer touchcontacts 470, 471 are located at least a predetermined contact distanceapart. The predetermined distance may be set to differentiate proximatestationary contacts (e.g., made by two fingers held substantiallyside-by-side) from distant stationary contacts (e.g., made by twofingers spread apart). For example, based on the contact detectionsignals, the processor may determine that the touch contacts 470, 471are located a distance D apart, that the distance D is greater than thepredetermined contact distance, and therefore, at least a portion of aparticular predetermined condition is satisfied. In some embodiments,the processor may be configured to determine which components of theuser's hand 490 are positioned on the outside surface 412 and determinewhether a predetermined condition is satisfied based thereon. Forexample, the processor may be able to determine from the contactdetection signals that the index finger 492 and the thumb 493 of theuser's hand 490 are making touch contacts 470, 471, respectively, withthe wearable device 400, in addition to the inner touch contact 480, andtherefore, at least a portion of a particular predetermined condition issatisfied.

In response to the analyzing the contact detection signals, theprocessor may initiate a function associated with the predeterminedcondition satisfied by the detected contacts. For example, in someembodiments, rotating the wearable device 400 around the user's wrist495 may be associated with controlling a lock function for the displayscreen, controlling a volume function of the wearable device 400, or anyother function associated with the device 400. In one embodiment,rotating the wearable device 400 in the direction 498 (e.g., clockwise)may indicate a user input to increase the volume, and rotating thewearable device 400 in the opposite direction (e.g., counter-clockwise)may indicate a user input to decrease the volume, or vice versa. Inanother embodiment, rotating the device 400 in the direction 498 mayindicate a user input to lock the display screen, and rotating in anopposite direction may indicate a user input to unlock the displayscreen, or vice versa.

It should be appreciated that the tactile interaction illustrated inFIGS. 4A and 4B is one example and that any of a number of modificationsmay be made. For example, the outer touch contacts 470, 471 may be madeby contacting the outside surface 412 with any two components of theuser's hand 490 (e.g., one or more fingers, thumb, palm, back of hand,knuckles, side of hand, etc.).

Referring to FIG. 5A, depicted is an example wearable device 500 inaccordance with certain embodiments. Also, FIG. 5B depicts across-section view of the wearable device 500. It should be appreciatedthat the wearable device 500 is merely an example and other components,sizes of components, and scales of components are envisioned.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the wearable device 500 includes a substrate 510that includes an outside surface 512 and an inside surface 514. Thesubstrate 510 may be configured to support an outer sensor 520 disposedin close proximity to the outside surface 512 and an inner sensor 530disposed in close proximity to the inside surface 514. In FIGS. 5A and5B, the outer sensors 520 are shown as being discrete touch sensors, andthe inner sensor 530 is shown as being a continuous touch sensor. Aswill be appreciated, in other embodiments, the sensors 520, 530 mayinclude any other type of, or combination of, touch-sensitivecomponents, such as a touch screen. In some embodiments, the wearabledevice 500 may include a display screen (not shown).

In FIGS. 5A and 5B, a portion of the user's hand 590 is depicted asmaking a single-touch, moving contact 570 along the outside surface 512of the wearable device 500. Further, the wearable device 500 is shown asbeing worn around a wrist 595 of the user, and the outer touch contact570 is shown as moving in a direction 598 along the band 500 and aroundthe wrist 595. For example, the outer touch contact 570 may be made bysliding a finger around the band 500. As another example, any portion ofthe user's hand 590 (e.g., one or more fingers, thumb, palm, one or moreknuckles, a back of the hand, etc.) may be slid along the wearable band500 to make the outer touch contact 570. In some cases, the outercontact 570 may be caused by a multi-touch contact. In some instances,the pressure of the user's hand 590 on the wearable band 500 may besufficient to cause the inside surface 514 to contact the user's wrist595. As shown in FIG. 5B, this contact (e.g., inner touch contact 580)may be detected by the inner sensor 530 at a location 594 on the insidesurface 514. In some instances, inner touch contact 580 may be caused bya single-touch, stationary contact. In other instances, inner contact580 may be caused by a multi-touch contact where the user's wrist 595contacts the inside surface 514 at more than one touch-point.

In response to the tactile interaction illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B,the outer sensors 520 may detect the outer touch contact 570 moving inthe direction 598, and at least one of the inner sensors 530 may detectthe inner touch contact 580. Upon receiving the corresponding contactdetection signals generated by the sensors 520, 530, a processor of thewearable device 500 may analyze the received signals to determinewhether a predetermined condition is satisfied. The processor mayconsider several factors during its analysis including, for example,whether a stationary contact has been detected by the inner sensor 530,whether each contact is maintained for a predetermined time interval,the number of touch points in each contact (e.g., single-touch ormulti-touch), and/or whether a moving contact has been detected by theouter sensor 520, and if so, whether the contact is moving in apre-specified direction (e.g., clockwise, counter-clockwise, etc.),and/or whether the touch contacts 570, 580 are detectedcontemporaneously.

In response to analyzing the contact detection signal(s), the processormay initiate a function associated with the predetermined conditionsatisfied by the detected contact(s). For example, in some embodiments,sliding one or more fingers along the direction 598 on the outsidesurface 512 of the wearable device 500 may be associated with launchinga dialing function, controlling a fast-forward/rewind function of thewearable device 500, controlling a lock function for the display screen,and any other function associated with the wearable device 500. In oneembodiment, sliding in the direction 598 (e.g., clockwise) may indicatea user input to increase the volume, while sliding in the oppositedirection (e.g., counter-clockwise) may indicate a user input todecrease the volume, or vice versa. In another embodiment, sliding inthe direction 598 may indicate a user input to lock the display screen,and sliding in the opposite direction may indicate a user input tounlock the display screen, or vice versa.

Referring to FIG. 6A, depicted is an example wearable device 600 inaccordance with certain embodiments. Also, FIG. 6B depicts across-section view of the wearable device 600. Further, FIG. 6C depictsone embodiment of the exemplary wearable device 600. It should beappreciated that the wearable device 600 is merely an example and othercomponents, sizes of components, and scales of components areenvisioned.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the wearable device 600 includes a substrate 610,which includes an outside surface 612 and an inside surface 614. Thesubstrate 610 may be configured to support an outer sensor 620 disposedin close proximity to the outside surface 612 and an inner sensor 630disposed in close proximity to the inside surface 614. In FIGS. 6A and6B, the outer sensors 620 and the inner sensors 630 are both shown asbeing discrete touch sensors, but either sensor (or both sensors) couldalternately be implemented as a continuous sensor. As will beappreciated, in other embodiments, the sensors 620, 630 may include anyother types of, or combinations of, touch-sensitive components, such asa touch screen or a continuous touch sensor. In some embodiments, thewearable device 600 may include a display screen (not shown).

In FIG. 6B, the wearable device 600 is shown as having a contact shield660 disposed between the outer sensor 620 and the inner sensor 630. Thecontact shield 660 may be configured to reduce parasitic contactdetection by a sensor on an opposite side of the substrate 610 than thesurface on which the contact is directly made. In some embodiments, thecontact shield 660 is a portion of the substrate 610, or is otherwiseintegrated into the substrate 610. In other embodiments, instead of, orin addition to the contact shield 660, parasitic contact detection maybe reduced or prevented by adjusting one or more of the threshold valuesincluded in a contact validation threshold associated with the wearabledevice 600. As explained above with reference to FIG. 2, by raising athreshold value above a value that is expected for a parasitic contact,the contact validation threshold may operate to prevent a parasiticcontact from being detected as a valid contact.

As shown in FIG. 6C, the wearable device 600 may further include afastener 646 for detachably coupling two portions 642, 643 of thesubstrate 610. According to some embodiments, the fastener 646 may bemade of a flexible material similar to that of the substrate 610. Inother embodiments, a more rigid material, such as metal or hard plastic,may form the fastener 646. The fastener 646 may be either a one piece ora two piece assembly and may be similar to conventional watchbandbuckles, clasps, or hook-and-loop fasteners. According to someembodiments, the fastener 646 may form a portion of the outside surface612 and/or the inside surface 614. In some embodiments, one or more ofthe sensors 620, 630 may be disposed on, underneath, or in closeproximity to the fastener 646. In one embodiment, one or more of thesensors 620, 630 may be integrated into the fastener 646. As an example,when the wearable device 600 is worn around a wrist 695 of the user, thefastener 646 may be intended to be worn close to the user's inner wristor the ulnar artery, like a conventional watch buckle.

In FIG. 6A, the wearable device 600 is shown as being worn around, orclose to, the wrist 695 on a right hand 693 of the user. In FIGS. 6A and6B, shown are two fingers 692, 693 of the user's left hand 690 that aremaking outer touch contacts 670, 671 at two proximate, or substantiallyclose locations 694, 696 on the outside surface 612 of the wearabledevice 600. The outer touch contacts 670, 671 may be stationary,multi-touch contacts that are detected by the two outer sensors 620 thatare located at or near the locations 694, 696. In some embodiments, thecontact locations 694, 696 may be less than or equal to a finger-widthapart. For example, as shown in FIG. 6A, the two fingers 692, 693 may beheld side-by-side when making contact with the outside surface 612.According to one embodiment, the two locations 694, 696 coincide with atleast a portion of the fastener 646. As will be appreciated, thedepicted tactile interaction may be similar to a commonly-known gesturefor measuring one's radial pulse by pressing two fingers from one handagainst the ulnar artery of the opposite hand.

As shown in FIG. 6B, the pressure applied by the fingers 692, 693 on thewearable device 600 may cause the inside surface 614 to contact theuser's wrist 695 at two proximate locations 697, 699 that are oppositefrom the two contact locations 694, 696, respectively, on the outsidesurface 612. This contact (e.g., inner touch contacts 680, 681) may bedetected by the inner sensors 630 that are located at, or close to, thelocations 697, 699 as stationary, multi-touch contacts. According to oneembodiment, the user's fingers 692, 693 are placed on the fastener 646,so that the touch contact locations 694, 696, 697, 699 coincide with oneor more portions of the fastener 646.

According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 6B, the outer touch contacts670, 671 on the outside surface 612 are able to overcome the contactshield 660 and be detected by the inner sensors 630 as indirect contacts670′, 671′. (Note that in some situations, the outer touch contacts 670,671 may fail to overcome the contact validation threshold.) In responseto the tactile interaction illustrated in FIG. 6A, the inner sensors 630may detect two sets of valid contacts: the indirect contacts 670′, 671′and the inner touch contacts 680, 681, while the outer sensors 620 maydetect only one set of valid touch contacts, the outer touch contacts670, 671. In some instances, the reverse may occur: inner touch contacts680, 681 may be parasitically detected by outer sensors 620.

Upon receiving contact detection signals generated by the sensors 620,630 with respect to detected touch contacts 670, 671, 680, 681, aprocessor of the wearable device 600 may analyze the received signals todetermine whether a predetermined condition is satisfied by the detectedcontacts. The processor may consider several variables during itsanalysis including, for example, whether the contact validationthreshold and/or the contact shield 660 has been overcome (e.g., in thecase of a parasitic contact), whether the contacts are maintained for apredetermined time interval (e.g., two seconds, ten seconds, etc.), thenumber of touch points in each contact (e.g., single-touch ormulti-touch), whether at least two stationary contacts have beendetected by the outer sensors 620 on the outside surface 612, anarrangement of the touch points in a multi-touch contact (e.g., whetherthe contacts are detected at sufficiently proximate locations), whethertwo stationary contacts have also been detected by the inner sensors 630at opposite locations on the inside surface 614, whether the outer andinner contacts are detected contemporaneously (e.g., overlapping intime), and/or a relative location of the contacts (e.g., whether thecontacts in both the outside surface 612 and the inside surface 614 weredetected on, underneath, or in close proximity to the fastener 646).

In response to analyzing the contact detection signals, the processormay initiate a function associated with the predetermined condition thatis satisfied by the detected contacts. For example, in some embodiments,pressing two or more fingers against the fastener 646 may be associatedwith launching a heart rate monitor of the device 600 (e.g., for useduring exercise), launching a dialing function of the device 600,pausing a music track that is being played by the device 600, or anyother function associated with the wearable device 600.

It should be appreciated that the tactile interaction illustrated inFIGS. 6A and 6B is one example and that any of a number of modificationsmay be made. For example, any number of fingers 692, 693 and/or otherportion(s) of the user's hand 690 (e.g., thumb, palm, back of hand, sideof hand, knuckles, etc.) may be used to make the one or more outer touchcontacts 670.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example wearable device 700 in which someembodiments may be implemented. The electronic device 700 can include aprocessor 740, a timer 742, memory 705 (e.g., hard drives, flash memory,MicroSD cards, and others), a power module 715 (e.g., flexiblebatteries, wired or wireless charging circuits, etc.), a peripheralinterface 725, and one or more external ports 735 (e.g., UniversalSerial Bus (USB), HDMI, Firewire, and/or others). The electronic device700 can further include a communication module 745 configured tointerface with the one or more external ports 735. For example, thecommunication module 745 can include one or more transceiversfunctioning in accordance with IEEE standards, 3GPP standards, or otherstandards, and configured to receive and transmit data via the one ormore external ports 735. More particularly, the communication module 745can include one or more WWAN transceivers configured to communicate witha wide area network including one or more cell sites or base stations tocommunicatively connect the electronic device 700 to additional devicesor components. Further, the communication module 745 can include one ormore WLAN and/or WPAN transceivers configured to connect the electronicdevice 700 to local area networks and/or personal area networks, such asa Bluetooth® network.

The electronic device 700 further includes touch-sensitive components730, a display screen 750 (such as display screen 150), and additionalI/O components 785 (e.g., capacitors, keys, buttons, lights, LEDs,cursor control devices, haptic devices, and others). The display screen750, touch-sensitive components 730 (e.g., outer sensor(s) 120 and/orinner sensor(s) 130), and the additional I/O components 785 may beconsidered to form portions of a user interface (e.g., portions of theelectronic device 700 associated with presenting information to the userand/or receiving inputs from the user).

In some embodiments, the display screen 750 is a touchscreen displayusing singular or combinations of display technologies such aselectrophoretic displays, electronic paper, polyLED displays, OLEDdisplays, AMOLED displays, liquid crystal displays, electrowettingdisplays, rotating ball displays, segmented displays, direct drivedisplays, passive-matrix displays, active-matrix displays, and/orothers. Further, the touch screen 750 can include a thin, transparenttouch sensor component (e.g., outer sensor 120) superimposed upon adisplay section that is viewable by a user. For example, such displaysinclude capacitive displays, resistive displays, surface acoustic wave(SAW) displays, optical imaging displays, and the like. When the touchscreen 750 includes the outer sensor 120, the touch-sensitive components730 may only include the inner sensors 130.

The touch screen 750 and/or touch-sensitive components 730 can beconfigured to interact with various manipulators, such as a human fingeror hand. Each type of manipulator, when brought into contact with thetouch screen 750 and/or touch-sensitive components 730, can cause thetouch screen 750 and/or touch-sensitive components 730 to produce asignal that can be received and interpreted as a contact or touch eventby the processor 740. The processor 740 is configured to determine thelocation of the contact on the surface of the touch screen 750 and/ortouch-sensitive components 730, as well as other selected attributes ofthe touch event (e.g., movement of the manipulator(s) across the surfaceof the screen, directions and velocities of such movement, touchpressure, touch duration, single touch or multi-touch, and others). Thetouch screen 750, the touch-sensitive components 730, and/or one of theadditional I/O components 785 can also provide haptic feedback to theuser (e.g., a clicking response or keypress feel) in response to a touchevent. The touch screen 750 can have any suitable rectilinear orcurvilinear shape, and may be oriented, rolled, or otherwise manipulatedas required to be worn by the user of the wearable device 700.

The electronic device 700 can further include one or more (non-touch)sensors 755 such as, for example, accelerometers, gyroscopic sensors(e.g., three angular-axis sensors), proximity sensors (e.g., lightdetecting sensors, or infrared receivers or transceivers), tilt sensors,cameras, and/or other sensors; and an audio module 765 includinghardware components such as a speaker 766 for outputting audio and amicrophone 767 for receiving audio. In some embodiments, the speaker 766and the microphone 767 can be piezoelectric components. The electronicdevice 700 further includes an input/output (I/O) controller 775.

In general, a computer program product in accordance with an embodimentincludes a computer usable storage medium (e.g., standard random accessmemory (RAM), an optical disc, a universal serial bus (USB) drive, orthe like) having computer-readable program code embodied therein,wherein the computer-readable program code is adapted to be executed bythe processor 740 (e.g., working in connection with an operating system)to implement a user interface method as described below. In this regard,the program code may be implemented in any desired language, and may beimplemented as machine code, assembly code, byte code, interpretablesource code or the like (e.g., via C, C++, Java, Actionscript,Objective-C, Javascript, CSS, XML, and/or others).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method 800 for controlling functionsassociated with a touch-sensitive device capable of being worn by a user(such as the wearable device 100 as shown in FIG. 1), thetouch-sensitive device having a substrate that includes an outsidesurface and an inside surface opposite from the outside surface. Moreparticularly, the method 800 relates to detecting user input based ontactile interactions or contacts made with the outside surface and/orthe inside surface of the touch-sensitive device while the device isbeing worn by the user, and in response to the detected contact(s),initiating a predefined function associated with the touch-sensitivedevice. The tactile interactions may include gestures, movements,touches, and/or any other form of contact made with the wearabletouch-sensitive device using any portion of a hand, including one ormore finger(s) and/or a thumb, a wrist, an arm, an ankle, and/or anyother body part(s). In some embodiments, the tactile interactions mayinclude natural or intuitive motions that can be performed by the userwithout looking at the wearable device. The touch-sensitive device mayfurther include a processor (such as the processor 740 as shown in FIG.7) that is configured to carry out the method steps described herein.

The method 800 begins at step 802 with receipt of a first signalgenerated by a first contact sensing component (such as the outer sensor120 as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C) upon detection of a first contactwith the outside surface of the touch-sensitive device. Step 804includes receiving a second signal generated by a second contact sensingcomponent (such as the inner sensor 130 as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and1C) upon detection of a second contact with the inside surface of thetouch-sensitive device. For example, the first signal and the secondsignal may be received by a processor associated with thetouch-sensitive device. The first contact and/or the second contact maybe stationary or moving relative to the surface on which the contact ismade. In some embodiments, the first contact and the second contact areoverlapping in time, and thus, the steps 802 and 804 may also occurcontemporaneously.

Step 806 includes analyzing the first signal and the second signal toretrieve information from the received signals. The informationretrieved from the first and second signals may be used to determinewhether one of several predetermined conditions is satisfied. Forexample, each predetermined condition may include multiple variables orfacets relating to measurements or other data associated with a detectedcontact. The information retrieved from the received signals may relateto these measurements and data, which may include, for example, whichcontact sensing component detected each contact, the type of movementdetected for each contact, timing information for each contact, thenumber of touch-points detected for each contact, the arrangement ofmulti-touch contacts, and/or the direction of any moving contact.

Step 808 includes comparing the information retrieved from the first andsecond signals with the facets of each predetermined condition. To carryout this comparison, the processor may access a database that storesinformation related to the variables of each predetermined condition,including a value for each variable of a predetermined condition (e.g.,see Table 1).

According to some embodiments, the method 800 may include one or more ofsteps 810, 812, 814, 816, 818, 820 to determine whether specificvariables of a predetermined condition are satisfied. For example, atstep 810, the processor determines whether the first and second contactswere each maintained for at least a predetermined time interval based ontiming information retrieved from the first and second signals. At step812, the processor uses the timing information to determine whether thefirst and second contacts overlap in time or are contemporaneous. Atstep 814, the processor determines whether each of the first contact andthe second contact are moving or stationary based on movementinformation retrieved from the first and second signals. If one of thecontacts is moving, the method 800 moves to step 816, where theprocessor determines the direction of the moving contact (e.g.,clockwise, counterclockwise, or any other direction).

From step 816, the method 800 continues to step 818, where the processordetermines whether each of the first contact and the second contact aresingle-touch or multi-touch contacts based on information retrieved fromthe first and second signals regarding the number of touch points foreach contact. Also, if the determination at step 814 is that bothcontacts are stationary, the method 800 continues directly to step 818.If the determination at step 818 is that one of the contacts has morethan one touch point, the method 800 continues to step 820, where theprocessor determines how the multiple touch points are arranged (e.g.,proximately placed, distantly placed, or arranged in a grip hold) basedon arrangement information retrieved from the first and second signals.

From step 820, the method 800 moves to step 822, where the processordetermines whether a predetermined condition is satisfied by the firstand second contacts based on the information retrieved from the firstand second signals. Also, if the determination at step 818 is that bothcontacts are single-touch contacts, the method 800 continues directly tostep 822. As should be appreciated, the method 800 is not limited to theexamples given herein with respect to steps 810, 812, 814, 816, 818,820, as indicated by the dashed lines in FIG. 8. Any of a number ofother criteria may be used to determine whether a predeterminedcondition is satisfied, as described herein.

At step 822, a determination is made based on the outcomes of steps 810,812, 814, 816, 818, 820 regarding whether one of the predeterminedconditions is satisfied by detection of the first contact and the secondcontact. For example, if each of the variables of a predeterminedcondition is satisfied by detection of the first and second contacts,then a positive determination (e.g., “Yes”) is made. Upon a positivedetermination at step 822, the method 800 continues to step 824, wherethe touch-sensitive device initiates a function associated with thesatisfied predetermined condition. On the other hand, if none of thepredetermined conditions are satisfied, then a negative determination(e.g., “No”) is made, and the method 800 returns to the beginning.

One example of carrying out steps 806, 808, 822 may include determiningthat the predetermined condition is satisfied upon determining that thefirst signal corresponds to detection of stationary contacts at multiplelocations along a majority of the outside surface, and determining thatthe second signal corresponds to detection of stationary contact at atleast one location on the inside surface. For example, the first signalmay be generated by the first contact sensing component in response tothe user's hand grabbing and curving around the outside surface of thetouch-sensitive device. At substantially the same time, the secondsignal may be generated by the second contact sensing component inresponse to the user's hand applying enough pressure on the outsidesurface to cause the inside surface to contact the user's wrist.

As yet another example of the analyzing and determining in steps 806,808, 822, the processor may determine that the predetermined conditionis satisfied upon determining that the first signal corresponds todetection of stationary contact at at least two locations on the outsidesurface, the at least two locations being a predetermined distanceapart, and determining that the second signal corresponds to detectionof moving contact at at least one location on the inside surface. Forexample, the first signal may be generated by the first contact sensingcomponent in response to the user placing two components of the user'shand (e.g., an index finger and a thumb) at least the predetermineddistance apart on the outside surface of the touch-sensitive device. Andat substantially the same time, the second signal may be generated bythe second contact sensing component in response to the user applyingsufficient pressure to the device while rotating the device around thewrist on which the device is being worn, so that the inside surface ofthe device contacts (e.g., slides around) the wrist.

Still another example for carrying out steps 806, 808, 822, theprocessor may determine that the predetermined condition is satisfiedupon determining that the first signal corresponds to detection ofmoving contact along a portion of the outside surface and determiningthat the second signal corresponds to detection of stationary contact atat least one location on the inside surface. For example, the firstsignal may be generated by the first contact sensing component inresponse to the user sliding one or more fingers around the outsidesurface of the touch-sensitive device. And at substantially the sametime, the second signal may be generated by the second contact sensingcomponent in response to the user applying sufficient pressure on theoutside surface to cause the inside surface of the device to contact thewrist around which the device is being worn.

As another example of carrying out steps 806, 808, 822, the processormay determine that the predetermined condition is satisfied upondetermining that the first signal corresponds to detection of stationarycontact at at least two locations on the outside surface and determiningthat the second signal corresponds to detection of stationary contact atat least two locations on the inside surface opposite from the at leasttwo locations on the outside surface. For example, the first signal maybe generated by the first contact sensing component in response to theuser pressing two fingers against a portion of the touch-sensitivedevice that is close in proximity to an underside of the wrist aroundwhich the device is being worn (e.g., near the ulnar artery). And atsubstantially the same time, the second signal may be generated by thesecond contact sensing component in response to the user applying enoughpressure to the outside surface to cause the inside surface to contactthe user's wrist at locations opposite from the locations of thetwo-finger press.

Several examples of user inputs and/or tactile interactions with thewearable touch-sensitive band are described herein. However, thewearable touch-sensitive band is not limited the examples describedherein and may be able to detect any of a number of differentcombinations of hand gestures, movements, and/or contacts using thefirst contact sensing component and/or the second contact sensingcomponent. As an example, other input gestures may include a quick tapof the band (e.g., like a slap on the wrist), a position or orientationof the hand and/or wrist on which the band is being worn, and otherintuitive or natural motions.

Thus, it should be clear from the preceding disclosure that the methodsand systems described herein allow user-control of one or more functionsassociated with a wearable touch-sensitive device upon detectingcontact-based inputs at at least two sensors respectively disposed inclose proximity to two opposite surfaces of the touch-sensitive device,and upon determining that the detected contact-based inputs satisfy apredetermined condition associated with each function, where thecontact-based inputs may be stationary contacts and/or moving contactsand may overlapping in time.

This disclosure is intended to explain how to fashion and use variousembodiments in accordance with the technology rather than to limit thetrue, intended, and fair scope and spirit thereof. The foregoingdescription is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to theprecise forms disclosed. Modifications or variations are possible inlight of the above teachings. The embodiment(s) were chosen anddescribed to provide the best illustration of the principle of thedescribed technology and its practical application, and to enable one ofordinary skill in the art to utilize the technology in variousembodiments and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations arewithin the scope of the embodiments as determined by the appendedclaims, as may be amended during the pendency of this application forpatent, and all equivalents thereof, when interpreted in accordance withthe breadth to which they are fairly, legally and equitably entitled.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A touch-sensitive device, comprising: asubstrate comprising an outside surface and an inside surface oppositefrom the outside surface; a first contact-sensing component coupled tothe substrate and configured to generate a first signal responsive todetecting a first contact with at least a portion of the outsidesurface; a second contact-sensing component coupled to the substrate andconfigured to generate a second signal responsive to detecting a secondcontact with at least a portion of the inside surface, wherein at leastone of the first contact or the second contact comprises a contact witha body part of a user; and a processor that is operatively coupled tothe first contact-sensing component and the second contact-sensingcomponent, wherein the processor is configured to: determine, based onan analysis of the first signal and the second signal, that apredetermined condition is satisfied, wherein the processor isconfigured to determine that the predetermined condition is satisfied atleast by: determining, based on the first signal, whether the firstcontact comprises a first moving contact along at least the portion ofthe outside surface; determining, based on the second signal, whetherthe second contact comprises a second moving contact along at least theportion of the inside surface; and determining, based on determiningwhether the first contact comprises the first moving contact along atleast the portion of the outside surface, and further based ondetermining whether the second contact comprises the second movingcontact along at least the portion of the inside surface, whether thepredetermined condition is satisfied; responsive to determining that thepredetermined condition is satisfied, determine, based on thepredetermined condition, a function from a plurality of differentfunctions; and initiate the function.
 2. The touch-sensitive device ofclaim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether thefirst contact comprises the first moving contact at least by:determining, based on the first signal, that the first contact comprisesthe first moving contact along at least the portion of the outsidesurface; and determining a direction of movement of the first contactrelative to the outside surface, and wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to determine whether the second contact comprises the secondmoving contact at least by: determining, based on the second signal,that the second contact comprises the second moving contact along atleast the portion of the inside surface; and determining a direction ofmovement of the second contact relative to the inside surface.
 3. Thetouch-sensitive device of claim 1, further comprising: a display screenconfigured to display graphical information, wherein the substrate isconfigured to support the display screen.
 4. The touch-sensitive deviceof claim 3, wherein the first contact-sensing component is part of thedisplay screen.
 5. The touch-sensitive device of claim 1, wherein atleast one of the first contact-sensing component or the secondcontact-sensing component comprises a respective array of discrete touchsensors.
 6. The touch-sensitive device of claim 1, wherein at least oneof the first contact-sensing component or the second contact-sensingcomponent comprises a respective single, continuous touch sensor.
 7. Thetouch-sensitive device of claim 1, further comprising: a shield disposedbetween the first contact-sensing component and the secondcontact-sensing component, the shield being configured to reduce adetection of the first contact by the second contact-sensing component.8. The touch-sensitive device of claim 1, further comprising: a shielddisposed between the first contact-sensing component and the secondcontact-sensing component, the shield being configured to reduce adetection of the second contact by the first contact-sensing component.9. The touch-sensitive device of claim 1, wherein the first contact andthe second contact are overlapping in time.
 10. The touch-sensitivedevice of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first contact-sensingcomponent or the second contact-sensing component is at least partiallyintegrated into the substrate.
 11. A method comprising: receiving afirst signal generated by a first contact-sensing component of atouch-sensitive device responsive to the first contact-sensing componentdetecting a first contact with at least a portion of an outside surfaceof a substrate of the touch-sensitive device, wherein thetouch-sensitive device is capable of being worn by a user; receiving asecond signal generated by a second contact-sensing component of thetouch-sensitive device responsive to the second contact-sensingcomponent detecting a second contact with at least a portion of aninside surface of the substrate of the touch-sensitive device, theinside surface being opposite from the outside surface, and wherein atleast one of the first contact or the second contact comprises a contactwith a body part of the user; determining, based on an analysis of thefirst signal and the second signal, that a predetermined condition issatisfied, wherein determining that the predetermined condition issatisfied comprises: determining, based on the first signal, whether thefirst contact comprises a first moving contact along at least theportion of the outside surface; determining, based on the second signal,whether the second contact comprises a second moving contact along atleast the portion of the inside surface; and determining, based ondetermining whether the first contact comprises the first moving contactalong at least the portion of the outside surface, and further based ondetermining whether the second contact comprises the second movingcontact along at least the portion of the inside surface, whether thepredetermined condition is satisfied; responsive to determining that thepredetermined condition is satisfied, determining, based on thepredetermined condition, a function from a plurality of differentfunctions; and initiating the function.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein determining whether the first contact comprises the first movingcontact comprises: determining, based on the first signal, that thefirst contact comprises the first moving contact along at least theportion of the outside surface; and determining a direction of movementof the first contact relative to the outside surface, and whereindetermining whether the second contact comprises the second movingcontact comprises: determining, based on the second signal, that thesecond contact comprises the second moving contact along at least theportion of the inside surface; and determining a direction of movementof the second contact relative to the inside surface.
 13. The method ofclaim 11, wherein determining whether the first contact comprises thefirst moving contact comprises determining, based on the first signal,that the first contact comprises a respective stationary contact at eachof one or more locations on the outside surface, and wherein determiningwhether the second contact comprises the second moving contact comprisesdetermining, based on the second signal, that the second contactcomprises a respective stationary contact at each of one or morelocations on the inside surface.
 14. The method of claim 11, whereindetermining whether the first contact comprises the first moving contactcomprises determining, based on the first signal, that the first contactcomprises a respective stationary contact at each of at least twolocations on the outside surface, the at least two locations on theoutside surface being a predetermined distance apart, and whereindetermining whether the second contact comprises the second movingcontact comprises determining, based on the second signal, that thesecond contact comprises the second moving contact.
 15. The method ofclaim 11, wherein determining whether the first contact comprises thefirst moving contact comprises determining, based on the first signal,that the first contact comprises the first moving contact along aportion of the outside surface, and wherein determining whether thesecond contact comprises the second moving contact comprisesdetermining, based on the second signal, that the second contactcomprises a respective stationary contact at each of one or morelocations on the inside surface.
 16. The method of claim 11, whereindetermining whether the first contact comprises the first moving contactcomprises determining, based on the first signal, that the first contactcomprises a respective stationary contact at each of at least twolocations on the outside surface, and wherein determining whether thesecond contact comprises the second moving contact comprisesdetermining, based on the second signal, that the second contactcomprises a respective stationary contact at each of at least twolocations on the inside surface opposite from the at least two locationson the outside surface.
 17. The method of claim 11, wherein the firstcontact and the second contact are overlapping in time.
 18. The methodof claim 11, further comprising: determining that at least one of thefirst contact or the second contact is associated with a value greaterthan a threshold value, the threshold value being associated with adetection of the first contact by the second contact-sensing componentor a detection of the second contact by the first contact-sensingcomponent.
 19. A non-transitory computer usable storage mediumcomprising computer-readable program code that, when executed, causes aprocessor to perform operations comprising: receiving a first signalgenerated by a first contact-sensing component of a touch-sensitivedevice responsive to the first contact-sensing component detecting afirst contact with at least a portion of an outside surface of asubstrate of the touch-sensitive device, wherein the touch-sensitivedevice is capable of being worn by a user; receiving a second signalgenerated by a second contact-sensing component of the touch-sensitivedevice responsive to the second contact-sensing component detecting asecond contact with at least a portion of an inside surface of thesubstrate of the touch-sensitive device, the inside surface beingopposite from the outside surface, and wherein at least one of the firstcontact or the second contact comprises a contact with a body part ofthe user; determining, based on an analysis of the first signal and thesecond signal, that a predetermined condition is satisfied, whereindetermining that the predetermined condition is satisfied comprises:determining, based on the first signal, whether the first contactcomprises a first moving contact along at least the portion of theoutside surface; determining, based on the second signal, whether thesecond contact comprises a second moving contact along at least theportion of the inside surface; and determining, based on determiningwhether the first contact comprises the first moving contact along atleast the portion of the outside surface, and further based ondetermining whether the second contact comprises the second movingcontact along at least the portion of the inside surface, whether thepredetermined condition is satisfied; responsive to determining that thepredetermined condition is satisfied, determining, based on thepredetermined condition, a function from a plurality of differentfunctions; and initiating the function.
 20. The touch-sensitive deviceof claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to determinethat the predetermined condition is satisfied at least by: determining,based on the first signal, whether the first contact comprises a firstmulti-touch contact; and determining, based on the second signal,whether the second contact comprises a second multi-touch contact. 21.The touch-sensitive device of claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to determine that the predetermined condition is satisfied atleast by: determining, based on the first signal and the second signal,whether the first contact and the second contact occur sequentially. 22.The touch-sensitive device of claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to determine that the predetermined condition is satisfied atleast by: determining, based on the first signal and the second signal,whether the first contact and the second contact occur overlapping intime.